British Alpaca Fashion Company
Our design studio is a ‘one stop shop’ to enable designers students and retailers to create their products from British Alpaca farmed in the United Kingdom within a framework of ethical and environmental responsibility.
Our studio is located in the Exmoor National Park. We have our own alpaca and create our own specialist British Alpaca yarns for industrial knitting. We are able to make prototype samples and through the use of our innovative software and streamline the production of knitwear and textiles. We are the only organisations in the world that can say we are truly From Farm to Future Fashion Technology.
Our aim is to address a gap in the market – to create a lifestyle SMART classic capsule collection for everyday use at a good price point from a natural fibre (i.e alpaca in this instance as it is a high quality resource in the UK which has yet to find a market) which has unique properties: durable, non flammable, hypoallergenic, lightweight, sustainable, biodegradable, and which will last 10 years at least.
The SMART products on the market are made from the cheapest synthetic materials which will end up adding to the billions of cheap clothing that end up in mountains of waste.
We work in conjunction with electronics engineers and research fellows from 3 UK universities. We award internships to graduates and work with at least 3 design graduates each year.
- Listing ID: 983
- Contact: Anila Preston
- What are your aspirations and plans for the future?: We have already started work on making prototypes of SMART clothing with alpaca fibre. Our plan is to be among the world leaders in using high quality natural fibre to create conductive yarns for the market and to offer our design facilities for designers to create SMART wearables using commercial knitting machines. We liaise with academic institutions that have made advancements in the field of electronics, conductive processes including conductive inks and nano technology and collaborate to develop products combining with the emerging techniques in knit technology. We expect to be able to provide full functionality with actuaters, sensors and all conductive wires within the garment that is wearable.
- What types of projects are you interested in working on through Future Fashion Factory?: Assisting and helping with concept design for SMART Textile projects; providing simulations and programmes to customers, creating Prototype of garment in natural fibre (luxury animal fibres – alpaca, guanaco, merino, cashmere, silk and blends, plant based fibres - viscose, cotton, linen, lyocell, tencel etc); arranging industry production or making small production runs. We are able to offer 4 day residential training courses on knit software programming and operations on Shima Seiki and also 2 -3 day residential courses on sustainable yarns fibre and felting techniques.
